Might & Magic Online players have the chance to win a Playstation 4 in a month-long tournament that is already in progress.
The “Champions of Ashan” event starts today and lasts throughout the month. The tournament will allow players to prove their skills during fierce Player versus Player battles and compete to receive special rewards such as gift-cards and exclusive medals.
The press release did not specify exactly which gift cards players can obtain.
(Source: Press Release)
Hot off the heels of Transformers Universe closing down, it appears Jagex is back on the horse with another MMO. A job listing popped up on the Jagex website looking for a lead programmer for an “undisclosed MMO.”
Given the exciting recent developments in online game engine technology and our historical success with the record breaking ‘Runescape’, we offer an amazing opportunity for a Lead Programmer to define the technological path of an undisclosed MMO.
Jagex’s most recent product, Transformers Universe, shut down in January mid-beta. Previous known works include Stellar Dawn, a science fiction MMO that was halted but not cancelled for Transformers, as well as an unnamed “ThirdScape” referenced several years ago.
(Source: Jagex)
It will soon be able to purchase WoW Tokens, items that can be traded in-game for subscription time. Tokens are purchased on the cash shop and sold on the auction house, allowing players who are short on gold to acquire it in a safer way and allowing those with extensive bank accounts to play World of Warcraft virtually free.
The WoW Token was created to give players with lots of extra gold the option to use it to help cover their subscription cost, and give those who want to purchase gold a way to do so from fellow players through a secure, easy-to-use system. The Token will be making its debut in an upcoming patch—in the meantime, check out the FAQ below for details on how it works.
Sneaky merchants should note that it is impossible to resell a token once you purchase it as they become soul-bound when purchased from the auction house.
(Source: World of Warcraft)
Jagex is polling users to determine interest in buyable levels, although denying that there are plans to introduce the feature in-game. The question popped up in an official survey, which quickly made the rounds on Reddit, prompting a response from Jagex Mod Balance. The purpose of the survey is apparently simply for data collection, with Mod Balance noting a heavily negative reaction to the idea of buying levels.
The benefit of running this survey is that we can now say “x% of players didn’t want this to happen”, instead of “players don’t want this to happen” if anyone was silly enough to seriously suggest this.
RuneScape, at least under current management, has no plans on introducing buyable levels.
(Source: Reddit)
Everquest is set to release a new progression server, and the team wants player feedback on how the game should transition into new expansions.
Our Progression Server player poll is now live in game and asks you to select from 4 options. Below is a summary of the options that the Designers put together. Mechanics within these can be refined or changed, like using player voting to progress, but in general this is how we see the options for a new Progression Server at the high level. (They are very complicated under the hood.)
Players can choose between existing rules, time-locked progression, slower progression, and seasonal challenges. The options, with their individual requirements, can be found at the link below.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
(Source: Everquest)
Shroud of the Avatar update 15 is here, and Portalarium has revealed that the Ultima-inspired MMO is now running on the latest UNITY engine. The update sets the stand for improving optimization and visual quality, however the patch notes that performance may drop on older machines until some of the new systems can be put into place.
As we have said before, our goal is to make sure Shroud is as visually compelling as we have time to make it. However, whenever we have to make a choice between simulation (turning lights on/off, picking up items from the world, NPC schedules, etc.) and visuals, we will ALWAYS choose the simulation.
The patch notes and announcements can be read at the link below.
(Source: Shroud of the Avatar)
Final Fantasy XIV is hosting a free weekend to celebrate four million registered accounts. The free weekend begins Friday February 27th at 3am EST and goes until March 9th at 4am EST. Eligible accounts include anyone who has previously purchased the game, with an account in good standing, whose subscription has lapsed.
Otherwise if you haven’t purchased FFXIV yet, you can take advantage of the game’s free trial at your leisure.
(Source: FFXIV)
The folks at H1Z1 have put together a video narrating the multitude of emails to customer support from players banned for cheating. While some try to plead, others feign ignorance or resort to a slurry of obscenities.
Either way, the end result is rather entertaining.
We need to have another one of those serious chats, for which I apologize and promise we’ll be getting back to the gaming talk ASAP.
As I type this, at 7:40pm on February 25th, the hashtag #letmarkspeak is number two trending on Twitter. If you haven’t been paying attention to the going-ons in the gaming press, you’re probably not aware on what this means or why it is so important.
Mark Kern, ex-CEO of Red 5 Entertainment and industry veteran, posted a petition on Change.org asking for websites like VG247 and Kotaku to decrease the amount of yellow journalism that goes on. The gaming press, as he believes, is at least partially responsible for the Law & Order SVU Gamergate episode, and Kern wants the press to become active in healing the relationship between themselves and gamers.
Find the common ground, drive productive dialogue, and find solutions instead of simply pointing fingers. Stop celebrating the hate and start serious coverage of the issues of ethics, women in gaming and video games as a positive medium for change.
The response from VG247 has been described as a hit-piece by Kern and others. It drags other developers into the fray and, most notably, ends with a subtle threat towards other developers. Don’t get involved, otherwise you’re going to regret it later on:
As was made blatantly obvious by Gamergate, the last thing the gaming community needs at the moment is more ill-informed bigots getting angry on the internet. Think before you sign. It may be very difficult to erase the ink.
Kern’s attempts to get VG247 to engage in conversation following the piece have been met with a flat out “no,” leading to today’s trending hashtag.
And herein lies the problem. When accused of yellow journalism, VG247 runs a hit piece. When gamers ask for better ethics in gaming press, the yellow journalists attacked gamers. Now that developers are joining in asking for more ethical behavior, those same people are attacking developers. Furthermore, they’re attacking journalists, the many outlets that have either solidified their ethics policies or transformed to allow for more disclosure.
This is how it’s going to happen, folks. This is how it always happens.
Because if you believe your motives to be pure, you will defend your actions against accusations. The guilty, upon being outed, will resort to attacking their accuser. They will defame, they will slander, they will attempt to invalidate the entire argument. Whatever happens, their true self is inevitably revealed.
This isn’t a fight between gamers and press, or devs and press, it’s a fight of everyone against yellow journalism, an industry that recently found its back up against the wall and like a cornered animal is lashing out. But to heal the rift, as Kern puts it, we need to start by figuring out who is here to work together and who is here to divide the community and make money off inciting hatred and shutting down conversation.
Gaming should be a place where everyone, no matter who you are, should be able to get together and enjoy our mutual hobby, and where creators don’t have to worry about being blacklisted because they asked for more ethical practice.
Can we go back to talking about video games now? I’d like to do that.
(Source: Change.org)
3000AD has announced that Line of Defense’s first combat phase will hit the servers beginning tomorrow, February 25th. The update will unlock assault rifles, pistols, combat knives, and melee, with players receiving a random item from each class upon spawning into the world.
Phase 1 (of 6 planned phases which unlock various weapons, items etc) of the infantry combat is out of final internal testing and will be released tomorrow around 12PM EST / 9AM PST
For the full list of updates, check out the game’s changelog.
(Source: Steam)
MMO Fallout 